Liquid desiccant air conditioning systems recirculate, regenerate and recover energy in the liquid desiccant to be continuously reused as the working fluid. In most systems, once the liquid desiccant has run through the conditioner unit, all of the liquid desiccant will flow directly back into the energy recovery/regenerator unit or storage unit regardless of its state. In systems where the conditioner unit has more than one sump, some liquid desiccant will flow into the energy recovery/regenerator unit, while other liquid desiccant will flow into the storage unit, remain in the holding sump, or be recirculated back into the conditioner unit.
No current system takes into account variations in energy transfer “work” performed by the liquid desiccant in the media pads, and therefore current systems lack flexibility and adaptability to different or varying loads. Such systems are static and thus do not adapt to changing load requirements from the space conditioned, the process being served, or the changing condition of the air being supplied to the conditioner unit or the energy recovery/regenerator unit.
For the foregoing reasons, there is a need in the art for a liquid desiccant air conditioning system comprising load followers, load anticipators, or a combination of the two in some or all sumps. Such a system improves cooling and heating in the conditioner unit, regeneration and energy recovery in the energy recovery/regenerator unit, and heat for the energy recovery/regenerator unit throughout varying loads on the conditioner unit and energy recovery/regenerator unit. Such a system will further allow for changing load requirements from the space conditioned or process served and the outside humidity and temperature changes. The present invention satisfies this need.